A man riding a dragon in new Skyrim Dragonborn DLC screenshots

Screenshots of upcoming Skyrim DLC Dragonborn have been released. There's a picture of a character riding on the back of a dragon! It's hard to see if this is the player-character, but whoever it is sits hands-free ready for battle.

We also get a look at some new enemies. There's the Ash Spawn rock humanoid creature thing; a Seeker that looks like an illithid/mind flayer from D&D; a mask-wearing, magic wielding Cultist; and a jellyfish-like Netch.

There's a look at the new dark elven settlement of Raven Rock and within it (I think) a redoran tavern and a redoran guard.

Dragonborn will be released on 4th December on Xbox Live. No PC or PS3 dates have been aired yet, but given the Dawnguard saga on PS3 you may be in for a wait. On Xbox Live Dragonborn will cost 1600 Microsoft Points.

Dragonborn takes place on the north-easterly and independent island of Solstheim, which has both a bit of Morrowind and Skyrim about it. The focus of the DLC is on the return of a the dragon priest, the first Dragonborn who turned a bit nasty actually.

Among all that will be ridable dragons, it looks like, although what degree of freedom you'll have to control the great beasts remains to be seen.

The Dragonborn website detailed one new shout (or spell or power - it's not clear): Dragon Aspect. This both strengthens your blows as well as all other shouts. The website says to expect new powers and "new paths for your skills and abilities". Whether this means new perks or simply access to more of the existing perks I'm not sure.

New armour types Bonemold and Chitin are mentioned, as are Stalhrim weapons. There's an enemy-type called a Riekling, and you'll be venturing into "a new Daedric realm".